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CHAPTER FOUR an impromptu dance party
⋆*✧･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ:
HOMEMADE MASKS and uniforms. Posters papering her walls. A bookshelf stacked with comics and magazines. Action figures on her nightstand. It was safe to say that the Umbrella Academy had taken over most of Nadine Vidal's teenage life. Featuring in daydreams and night ones, in stories she wrote for class, popping up in conversation. Sometimes she'd even unconsciously make illusions of umbrellas or superheroes. Her obsession kept her going, kept her knowing that she wasn't alone, and that there was a place where she belonged, even if it wasn't the one she was currently in. Among others like her, with powers just as difficult to explain. Nadine Vidal was supposed to be part of the Umbrella Academy, and she'd known that the moment she'd first seen them on television.
Or... she'd thought she was supposed to be a part of it. Sitting here, subjected to Diego's irritated glares and Luther's occasional glances, listening in on this intimate conversation she was definitely intruding on, learning that her imagination might've gone a bit too wild this time had Nadine Vidal shaken. She'd never been a particularly grounded woman—the Sanctuaries alone proved that—but this was a whole new level. She'd discovered the skeletons in the closet, and now she didn't know what to do with herself.
It seemed that the Umbrella Academy had never been the paradise she'd thought it was. And that definitely made her uncomfortable.
When Luther didn't deny Diego's claim, everyone's eyebrows shot up. Klaus, from his position beside Nadine, piped up, "You do!"
"How could you think that?" Vanya asked, hurt.
Luther shook his head, his mouth agape like a fish, but he didn't have time to defend himself before Diego was snarking, "Great job, Luther. Way to lead."
Luther shook his head. "That's not what I'm saying."
"That's exactly what you're saying," Nadine murmured. The burly man shot her a withering look, and Nadine shrugged. She knew her input wasn't welcome in this family discussion, but she had to speak up. She tapped her fingers against her wine glass and ran a hand through her hair, which was still locked in its bun.
Klaus began to rise. "That's crazy, man. You're crazy. Crazy."
The entire family began to leave Luther behind, while he just stood there, bleating that he wasn't finished and that he wasn't insinuating that he had literally accused his own family members of murder. When Vanya stood up, Nadine figured she should, too, leaving her wine glass on the coffee table and beginning to follow the woman.
"Okay, well, sorry, I'm just gonna go murder Mom," Klaus was saying. "Be right back."
Luther continued to bleat like an annoying goat as Nadine followed Vanya out into the front hall. Diego seemed to notice Nadine's presence, and rolled his eyes. "Well, you've gotten your exclusive peek into the Hargreeves life, French Girl. Now you can just go home."
